LCol James S Fillebrown's Official Report

Report of September 25, 1862

COLONEL: In the absence of Colonel Beal, who is away on account of wounds, and the illness of Major Walker, it devolves upon me to forward a report of the acts performed by the Tenth Maine Regiment in the recent engagement with the enemy near Sharpsburg, Md., on Wednesday, September 17, 1862, and which is respectfully submitted.

The regiment went on to the field in column by division, closed in mass on first division, right in front, and was ordered to deploy while under fire, by General Mansfield, the only general officer present, to the left of the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and, before we were in line, had some few men killed or wounded. Before we received orders to commence firing, we were obliged to oblique to the left the length of our regiment, and at once commenced the engagement with a regiment of the enemy, which afterward proved to be the Twentieth Georgia. The men went into the woods some few rods, when I was knocked from my horse by Colonel Beal's horse, which had been twice mortally wounded, and, returning, gave me a severe kick in the stomach, entirely disabling me for three days. Colonel Beal received a shot, after his horse was twice wounded, in the legs, passing through one and entering the other slightly. Leaving the field at so early a stage of the fight, I am unable to give a more exact detail of the subsequent proceedings, but our officers are uniform in ascribing to their men may acts of coolness and personal courage, conspicuous among them being Corpl. Reuben Viel, of Company K, who, with other men, rushed upon the enemy, and took, among other prisoners, the colonel and a second lieutenant of the Twentieth Georgia Regiment, and after conducting them to the rear, again returned to the contest, where they remained till after the regiment had exhausted its ammunition, and being relieved by General Greene's command, was ordered to retire.

A list of casualties has already been forwarded to brigade headquarters, and recent returns of company reports prove it to have been nearly correct.